At the launching ceremony. Photo: Phuong Nguyen/USAID

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Directorate of Fisheries of the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Oct.22 launched the Mekong Delta Coastal Habitat Conservation project, which was announced during U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Vietnam in August.

With a planned budget of up to US$2.9 million provided by USAID, this three-year project aims to protect key coastal habitats in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam to increase the sustainability of fisheries, enhance climate change adaptation, and improve biodiversity conservation.

The Mekong Delta is the final destination of the Mekong River, which flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before reaching the sea.

Formed by sediment and sand following the flow of the Mekong over 6,000 years, the delta has an area of almost 40,000 square kilometers, making up 12% of the nation’s total, according to the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research.

Christine Gandomi, Acting Director of the Office of Climate Change, Energy and Environment (OCEE) at USAID/Vietnam, speaks at the launch event. Photo: Phuong Nguyen/USAID

The Mekong Delta and its islands are home to 70% of Vietnam’s mangroves and 90% of its seagrass beds. Fed by the sediment and nutrients from the Mekong River, these habitats support Vietnam’s richest fishing grounds, but are also under growing threat.

The delta’s mangrove forests, which provide nursery habitat for sea bass, snapper, and other commercially important species, and important protection for coastal communities from storm surges, are declining due to sea level rise. The delta’s crucial fishery habitats are further threatened by environmental pressures including prolonged droughts, rising temperatures, and aquaculture demand for groundwater, and intensive near-shore fishing which has depleted fish stocks, causing cascading ecological damage.

By partnering with businesses, provincial governments, the management board of Phu Quoc Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Phu Quoc National Park and fishing communities, the project will work to mitigate threats to coastal biodiversity and fisheries, and enhance coastal resilience in the Mekong Delta.

The region’s fertility, however, is under severe threat because of upstream dams that block the river’s flow, intensive aquaculture, climate change impacts and other factors. Photo: Phuong Nguyen/USAID

Geographically, the project’s activities will focus on the delta’s lowest lying and most vulnerable coastlines along the East and West Seas, Phu Quoc MPA, and three small island clusters in the West Sea (Hai Tac, Ba Lua, Nam Du).

The main components of the project include: strengthen management of Phu Quoc MPA for more effective habitat and species conservation, establish a network of locally managed marine areas to protect coral reefs, seagrass beds in three island clusters, and explore solutions to conserve and expand mangrove forests to increase fish nursery habitat and coastal biodiversity.

It is expected that the project’s outcomes will contribute to addressing the systemic threats in the Mekong Delta, in support of ongoing measures being taken by the Government of Vietnam, such as the revised Fisheries Law, 2018 Resolution 36, Resolution 120, and 2019 Planning Law.

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